Strength
by Iknowyoulovemexoxo
Summary: When Stephanie can't handle the pressure her relationship with Paul is putting on his career and his relationship with the other wrestlers she does the only thing she can think of to fix it, walk away. Can Paul get her to come back? Originally written circa 2004.
1. Chapter 1

_Dear Paul,_

_I know I should have said this to your face but I can't it's too hard to look into your eyes and tell you that I'm leaving, I tried I really did but I couldn't._

_It's for the best that I do this, I can't stand watching the fans get mad at you and have a go at you because of me, I can't stand you getting blamed for everything that happens again because of me, I can't stand the guys treating you like an outcast because of our relationship, it's not fair on you. I don't want to leave you Paul but it is for the best._

_I'll move my things out of your house in New Hampshire as soon as I get a day off. I think it would be best if you no longer came to Smackdown also so we don't make things any harder than they already will be and they have to be. I hope one day we can get past what happened and we can both move on and hopefully be friends again as you are my best friend and you always will be._

_Always and forever yours_  
_Stephanie xx_

Stephanie folded the letter and put it into the envelope and shut it and then kissed the envelope and placed it on the pillow where her head should have been. She then leaned over and gave Paul one more kiss on the cheek and whispered "I love you" while pushing a stray strand of hair out of his face. She then got up and walked over to her suitcases that she had left packed when they had arrived at the hotel that night and took them to the door as she quietly opened it she looked back at Paul sleeping peacefully one last time before walking out of the door and quietly shutting the door behind her so as to not wake him before wiping the tears that had started to fall from her face and walking off leaving her one true love behind her.

It was 7:30am and Paul had just got his wake up call from reception, he rolled over to lazily put an arm over Stephanie before he kissed her to wake her up when he felt flat blanket and no body, he lay back on his back listening for running water or any sign of movement and when there was none he sat up and looked around and he found that Stephanie's belongings had gone and then he saw the letter. Paul picked up the letter and started to read, as he got to the end he had to wipe the tears from his eyes, "why Stephanie, why leave me?"

Paul had to drag himself out of bed and into the shower as today was Raw, they had had the pay per view the night before and now it was Raw and he had to go to the arena. While in the shower washing his hair it hit Paul that it was Raw so Stephanie would be there so he could talk to her and they could sort things out so he rushed through the rest of his shower and went to get dressed.

Once Paul was dressed he headed down to the dining hall to get breakfast as he walked in he saw Kevin who shouted out to him, "hey man, where's the missus? I haven't seen her all morning, you didn't wear her out last night did you?"

It all came flooding back to Paul and he turned around to leave when Kevin caught up with him.

"Hey man, what's the problem? You had a fight with Steph?"

Paul shook his head so Kevin kept pressing him, "then what's the deal?"

Paul looked at the floor then looked up into the concerned eyes of his closest friend, "she left me."

Kevin was shocked, "she left you? For who? When?"

Shrugging his shoulders Paul couldn't answer those question, "I have no idea why she left; she left in the middle of the night."

"What, you mean she didn't tell you she was leaving?" Paul nodded his head so Kevin continued, "maybe she had things she had to do early this morning and didn't want to disturb you?"

"She left me a letter saying she was leaving me, it was for the best, best for whom though Kev? Her? It certainly isn't best for me."

Kevin just shrugged, "come get some breakfast, you'll see her at the arena."

Paul went and sat down with Kevin and ate something while trying to avoid everyone's questions about Stephanie as she normally was around him all of the time outside of the arena, they were inseparable like siamese twins.


	2. Chapter 2

Kevin and Paul finished their breakfast and decided to head to the arena early so that Paul could talk to Stephanie before any of the meetings started and before a lot of people arrived so they both headed to their rooms and grabbed their kit and jumped into Kevin's rental car. Normally Paul would travel in the limo with Stephanie to the arena but as she wasn't around he had to find himself another way to get to the arena.

Once Paul arrived to the arena he checked with security to see if Stephanie had arrived yet but they said they could not tell him so Paul headed inside to check out the arena but before he headed off Kevin called him back, "Paul, be careful and don't do anything stupid with her. Don't push her just let her talk to you if she wants."

Paul looked at Kevin like he was crazy, "do I look stupid to you?"

Kevin shook his head, "Paul, I know how much you adore her and want her back but let her do things in her own time, don't push her."

Paul nodded his head in acknowledgement of what Kevin said, "thanks man, I'll try my best. I'll catch you later as I want to catch her before the meeting."

Kevin just watch his friend rush off hoping he didn't do anything stupid.

Paul had been wandering around backstage for about half an hour unable to locate Stephanie so he headed to the Production meeting in the hope of seeing her there, as Paul walked in Vince said, "ah just in time we are about to start, Paul please take a seat."

As Paul sat down he looked around and saw all the normal people but no Stephanie and as the meeting went on there was still no sign of her and no visible agitation on Vince's part to her missing it either which was unusual. Normally he would be frothing at the mouth if somebody as important as Stephanie missed the meeting.

Once Vince called the meeting to an end and everybody started leaving Paul decided to wait behind and talk to Vince because he was sure to have answers.

Once everyone left Paul shut the door to which Vince looked up, "what can I do for you Paul?"

Paul walked over to Vince determined to get answers, "where's Stephanie?"

Vince stopped what he was doing and stared at the younger man, "what?"

Paul tried again, "where is Stephanie?"

Confused as he thought she had told him Vince frowned, "Stephanie has taken some time off."

There was only one question Paul wanted answering, "why?"

Vince shrugged, "she just said she needed to get away, she said she was run down and needed a break. I assumed she'd talked to you about it and you'd know exactly where she was."

Paul shook his head and pulled the letter out of his pocket, "I found this this morning when I woke up, that is why I wanted to see her so bad."

Vince read the letter and said, "I didn't realise things were so bad between you, last night you both seemed so much in love and together."

Laughing wryly Paul felt the same way as Vince did, "we were, that's the problem. I thought everything was fine when we went to bed last night but I woke up to find this, I guess I'll have to keep looking for her."

Vince was quiet for a moment contemplating what he was about to say but ultimately deciding it needed to be said, "do you think you should give her some space? Maybe that is why she's upped and left she wants space from it all, space from you, from the guys, from the fans?"

Paul was angry at the insinuation, "Vince I love her, we're supposed to get married, which incidentally she's kept the ring, I'm not going to stop looking until I find her and I get answers."

Turning around Paul stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

It was 6:30am and Stephanie had finally arrived back at the McMahon mansion to get the keys off her Mom, she knew her Dad had keys also but she really didn't want him knowing where she was going to be in case Paul found out. Stephanie entered the McMahon living room and sat down while flicking the tv on knowing her Mom would be getting up really soon for work.

_Stephanie arrived at her Dad's hotel room it was 2:45am and she knocked on the door. Slowly Vince got out of bed and opened the door, "Stephanie? What are you doing here so late?" _

_She walked past him entering the room, "hi Dad, I just wondered whether it was okay for me to take some time out please?" _

_Vince sat heavily on the bed, "time out, what for?" _

_"I'm stressed and worn out and need to get away for a while, please." Giving her Dad the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster she knew he would cave._

_Vince sighed, "alright, we can manage without you for a while." _

_Stephanie went over and hugged her Dad tightly, "thanks." _

_Having the agreement from her Father Stephanie picked up her bag and left the room._

A little while later Linda got up and she thought she heard the television on downstairs, she knew she'd turned it off the night before and she knew that Vince, Stephanie and Shane were all at Raw, or so she thought, so Linda quietly went back to the bedroom where she kept a baseball bat in case of emergencies when she was alone and she headed downstairs.

Stephanie was sat watching cartoons and she didn't hear Linda coming downstairs but as Linda got closer to the living room she knew someone was there so she picked the bat up ready to strike. Once at the door Linda counted to 10 and then ran into the room swinging the bat screaming, "I've got you, you can't escape now."

Stephanie jumped up from her seat on the couch and seeing her Mom screaming and wielding the baseball bat she screamed and Linda seeing Stephanie she screamed and dropped the baseball bat on the floor.

Once they had both regained their composure Linda said, "Steph, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Raw?"

Stephanie smiled softly, "no, I've taken some time off and I wanted to ask a favour please?"

Linda was confused, "where's Paul then?" Sitting down on the couch and patting the seat by the side of her to make Stephanie sit down aswell.

Once Stephanie was sat down she said, "Paul's at work."

Linda still didn't know what was going on, "Paul's at work, hmm. What is the favour?"

"I first want you to promise you will not tell a soul where I am going."

Sighing Linda really didn't like the way this was going, "I assume Paul knows where you are going though?"

Stephanie shook her head, "he doesn't and mustn't know where I am going."

Linda was shocked, "alright, I'm going to get breakfast and you are coming with me and telling me **everything** leaving out nothing."

Both women got up and headed to the kitchen to get some breakfast.

Once they were both settled with their breakfast Stephanie told Linda everything but before Linda could say anything Stephanie said, "I don't want to hear it alright, I know what you are going to say so save your breath. All I want is the keys to the apartment in Florida so I can go and get away from everything for a while."

Linda shook her head at her daughter, "Stephanie you are too much like your Father sometimes; you're too stubborn for your own good. I wish you would listen to reason and when people tell you how much Paul adores you."

Putting her fingers in her ears Stephanie started to sing, "la la la la la la, I don't want to hear it."

Pulling Stephanie's fingers from her ears Linda frowned at her daughter, "why didn't you get the keys from your Dad? He has a set."

Stephanie sighed, "he'd tell Paul, I know not intentionally but he'd think Paul knew. Are you going to give me the keys or not?"

Linda groaned and got up and got them out of the drawer, "you can have them on two conditions and this includes me not telling Paul for you."

Stephanie was eager to get out of there so nodded her head, "name them."

"Just tell me why you left him like you did and you've got to promise me you'll talk to Paul at some point."

Irritated Stephanie shook her head, "I can't handle all the abuse he is getting, it's not fair. I can't and won't promise as I don't know that I'll do it so I won't say I'll talk to him, just please give me the keys."

Linda reluctantly handed over the keys, "fine, take the keys and run away."

Stephanie snatched the keys from Linda and headed towards the front door but she stopped and turned around in the kitchen doorway, "remember, don't tell anyone where I am, especially Paul."

Linda shook her head at her daughter exasperated by her behaviour, "get out."

With that Stephanie left and headed to the airport for her flight to Florida.


	4. Chapter 4

In the arena Paul was in his dressing room dialing Stephanie's Greenwich house to see if she was there suddenly someone picked up the phone and Stephanie's voice came on the line '_I'm sorry that I can't take your call at the moment so if you'll leave your message, name and number after the beep I'll get back to you' _Paul sighed and hung up.

Kevin walked into the locker room just in time to see Paul throw his phone across the room, "damn Paul is that any way to treat your phone, it has feelings too."

Paul just looked at Kevin like he lost his mind.

Kevin sat down by the side of Paul, "are you alright?"

Shaking his head he had to resist the desire to be snarky in his response, "Steph's not answering her cell phone, she's not answering at home and she has taken an unknown amount of time off work, yeah I'm just grand thank you."

"Steph's taken time off work? It's got to be bad. How did you find this out? Did Vince volunteer the information?"

Paul nodded, "yep, Vince voluntarily told me that my fiancé or ex-fiancé whatever she is went to him in the middle of the night and told him she needed a break so Vince gave her the time off figuring I knew all about it and I don't even know where she's gone. Kev I'm scared, what if she does something stupid?"

Kevin put his hand on Paul's shoulder trying to reassure him, "I'm sure she wouldn't do anything stupid Paul, she's a sensible woman she just needs a break I'm sure. Why don't we forget about this and go and practice in the ring for a bit?"

Paul shrugged and picked his cell phone back up and they walked down to the ring.

Kevin and Paul were working out in the ring when Chris Irvine came down, "hey guys, do you mind if I join in please?"

Kevin shrugged and said, "the more the merrier."

Chris slid in the ring, "hey Kev how about we double team Paul to try and cheer him up? Anyway Paul where is your personal cheer squad? Steph normally loves watching you work out, in her words 'I just love my man looking all hot and sweaty when he works out'."

"She's not here."

Chris rolled his eyes ,"duh, I'm not stupid I can see that."

Paul got mad and backed Chris up into the corner and shouted in his face, "I TOLD YOU SHE'S NOT HERE, NOW BACK OFF."

Kevin quickly got in-between them both incase anything happened when Paul's cell rang, he immediately dived out of the ring to answer it, "Steph? . . . oh hi Mom."

Paul then signaled to the guys that he was going to take the phone call elsewhere so Chris turned to Kevin, "alright spill, what on earth is going on? Paul looks like his favourite pet just died, Stephanie hasn't been seen all day, Paul gets mad at the mention of her whereabouts and then his cell rings and he dives to answer it thinking it's her."

Sighing Kevin slid down in the corner of the ring, "Steph's taken time off."

Chris shrugged, "that's nice, but how does that account for Paul's mood?"

Frowning Kevin hated having to explain this, "don't tell anybody but she upped and left him in the middle of the night. Last night they went to bed together this morning he woke up to find a letter from her saying she was leaving, Paul then went to Vince who told him that Stephanie had gone to see him in the middle of the night asking for time off and no one knows where she is and she isn't answering her phone."

Chris was shocked as it was definitely not the behaviour of the Stephanie he knew, "that's not like Steph, I feel bad for Paul though as it is obvious how much he adores her. Has he tried Linda or Shane?"

Kevin shrugged, "I don't think so; I'll suggest that to him. I'd better go and see how he's doing though, please don't tell anybody what's going on."

"I won't, bye."

Kevin walked off to go and check up on Paul.

Paul was sat in his locker room looking at photos of her and them together when Kevin walked in, "what are you my babysitter? You don't need to hang around me all of the time I won't do anything stupid you know."

Kevin sighed, "Paul I know, I just want to help you alright? Have you tried talking to Linda or Shane about her whereabouts?"

Paul suddenly was full of life, "perfect, thanks Kev."

Paul picked up his phone and dialled Shane's number, "hey man it's Paul how are you? . . . Good I'm glad, okay I'll cut to the chase, have you heard from Stephanie lately? . . . You spoke to her last night? . . . What did she say? . . . So you have no idea where she is right now then? . . . Alright thanks man, it was worth a try, take care of yourself . . . I will, bye."

Paul hung up and turned to Kevin, "Shane spoke to Steph last night and she sounded fine and mentioned nothing about taking time off."

Kevin shrugged, "it was worth a try, are you going to try Linda? You know how close those two are."

Paul sighed, "not right now; I need to go over my match with Rob for later."

For the rest of the afternoon and evening Paul was on tenterhooks, every time his phone rang he was hoping it was Steph but it wasn't. Once Paul had had his match and the show was over Vince went up to him and said, "are you coming to Smackdown? We could always use your expertise there."

Paul thought for a minute and realised he hadn't talked to Linda and he could go back to Greenwich and check out Steph's house and talk to Linda at the same time so made a decision, "no I'm not, I told you I'm going to find out where Steph is and that is exactly what I'm going to do tomorrow."

Vince sighed, "Paul, what if she doesn't want to talk to you or even see you? She hasn't rung you today has she?"

Shaking his head Paul hadn't but he wished he had, "Vince I can't let her do this, I love her."

"If you love her you'll give her the space she obviously wants, think about it will you?"

Paul sighed, "I don't know that she does want space, all I got was that letter from her. Vince I have to find out where I stand, it's killing me."

Raking his fingers through his hair there was nothing Vince could say to make him see sense, "alright then, but promise me you won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do and if she says she wants some space you'll give it to her."

Paul nodded, "I promise you, as long as it comes from her mouth I will do whatever she wants me to do but I need to see her and hear her say it."

Nodding his head he understood that, "good luck then, I think you'll need it."

Paul picked up his bag and headed for the airport, he had a long flight ahead of him.


	5. Chapter 5

It was 3am and Paul had just arrived at the local Connecticut airport, as he went to grab his bags to get home when a fan stopped him. Paul wasn't really in the mood for autographs and questions but he had to be professional, "what's your name?"

To the fan it felt like her lucky day, "Louise, where's Stephanie?"

Paul quickly signed the autograph and said, "working, now if you'll excuse me I've had a long day and I need some sleep, it was nice meeting you."

He walked off to get a cab before she could say anything else.

By the time Paul reached home, well Stephanie's house but he called it home anyway, it was 3:45am and all he wanted to do was sleep. Walking into the house he picked up the mail throwing that and his keys on the table and dragging his bags upstairs and throwing them into the corner before quickly undressing and climbing into bed. Paul didn't then wake up until 8:45 but when he did he rolled over to put an arm over Stephanie when it hit him that he didn't know where she was so he dived out of bed and into the shower.

Paul knew he still needed to eat properly so once he was out of the shower and dressed he walked downstairs and made himself some breakfast, while eating his breakfast he saw the mail on the table and decided to flip through it to see if there was anything there, "junk, bill, bill, junk, junk, fan letter. Urggh nothing, where the hell is she?"

Once he had finished his breakfast he went back upstairs and checked his messages, there was one from his Mom and that was it, "damn you woman."

Throwing his phone onto the bed in frustration he hated being stuck in limbo like this.

Paul knew he had to start looking for clues or asking questions so he opened Stephanie's closet, although she had a lot of clothes he knew what she had packed with her originally so he could see if there was more missing, as he rifled through he noticed that there was some trousers missing and some skirts, they were all the ones she'd relax in not work in so he knew she'd be doing no work, he then went over to the dresser and sure enough a lot of her tops were gone and some bikinis, which he didn't take notice of straight away, he knew she'd gone away from Greenwich but he didn't know where.

Having established the fact that Stephanie had gone away all he needed now was her whereabouts and the one person he knew who might know, his last hope of finding out, would be at work so Paul headed downstairs grabbed a set of car keys and his house keys and headed to Titan Towers.

Paul was on first name terms with everyone at Titan Towers so when he arrived he said 'hi' to Billy the doorman and then when he walked in Julie said, "morning Paul, how are you this fine Tuesday morning?"

He smiled politely at the receptionist and said, "I'm wonderful thank you Julie, your beautiful self?"

Julie smiled and blushed, "Paul, you'll get me into trouble. Stephanie will kill me if she sees you flirting with me."

He smiled back and chuckled, "don't worry, I can handle her. Now if you'll excuse me I have places to go and people to see."

He walked to the elevator and pressed '4' for Linda McMahon's floor. Once Paul reached the floor he walked over to her office and saw Mandy her Secretary sat outside, "hi Mandy, is Linda in please?"

Mandy looked up and smiled immediately recognising the familiar face around these parts, "hey Paul, where's Steph?"

Paul sighed, "she's working, so may I see Linda then?"

She shrugged, "yes Paul Mrs McMahon is in but she said no visitors as she has a lot of paperwork to do."

He smiled sweetly and put on his best innocent face, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind seeing her future son in law though, I'll catch you later Mandy."

Paul walked to Linda's door and knocked on it waiting for her to allow him inside.

Meanwhile Stephanie had just arrived at the apartment in Florida and she threw all her stuff in the bedroom and started to unpack, the first thing she saw was a picture of her and Paul that she always carried with her, she clutched it to her chest as tears started falling down her cheeks, "why did everything have to be so hard? I love you Paul."

She gently placed the picture by the bed and continued to unpack.

Back at Titan Towers Linda was piled up high with paper work when there was a knock on the door and figuring it was Mandy bringing her a cup of coffee she invited her in, "come in."

Having assumed it was just a cup of coffee when she heard the door open she just pointed to an empty piece of desk and said, "thank you, just put it there please."

When there was no movement she slowly looked up and the first thing she saw were the black pants and as she moved slowly up the body she realised it was that of her supposed to be future son in law Linda looked to his face not sure what emotions she could see there, "hi Paul, what can I do for you? Shouldn't you be at Smackdown with Steph?"

Paul looked at Linda incredulously, "yeah Linda I'm sure you think Steph is at Smackdown. What, do I look stupid?"

She sighed softly, "what's wrong Paul?"

He was getting frustrated so he walked to the window, "you know full well what I want; I want to know where Stephanie is."

"She's at Smackdown, isn't she?"

Paul looked back at Linda with a frown on his face, "you can't lie to me Linda, I know you know she's not there and I think you know where she is."

She sighed and got up and went and stood next to him, "okay Paul you're right, I do know that she's not at Smackdown and I do know that she has taken time off but I've been sworn to secrecy as to her whereabouts and as much as I love you Paul I love my daughter more and my loyalty is to her so I can't tell you."

He turned and looked at her, "I love her Linda, this is killing me deep inside not knowing where she is and where I stand with her. I don't suppose you know how she feels about me do you?"

Linda could see the deep hurt on Paul's face and it broke her heart, "Paul I know you love her and to be honest I'm pretty sure she loves you to but as always when the going got tough Steph would get going, ever since she was a little girl. I honestly believe she thinks she is doing what's right for you."

"She's not doing what's right for me though, what's right for me is having her by my side again, being there when I go to sleep and wake up, being there just so I can hold her and tell her how much I love her."

Paul then wiped a tear from his eye causing Linda to sigh, "Paul I want to help as I can see how much this is hurting you but promised her I wouldn't tell you but if you were to work it out all on your own then that would be a different story. I don't suppose you noticed anything missing did you? I assume you've been to the house."

He thought Linda had lost her mind, "ummm loads of tops and trousers and skirts, all relaxing ones had gone and also some bikinis . . . some bikini's, that has to be a clue."

Linda smiled at him and enjoyed seeing that little sparkle of hope in his eyes, "bikini, now where would she need a bikini? Say somewhere hot and relaxing but she didn't have time to book anywhere so she'd have to know somewhere she could stay."

A light bulb went off in Paul's head when he realised exactly where she could be, "Florida, you guys have got that apartment in Florida, she's gone to Florida."

Not wanting to verbally tell him that he was right she just smiled at him indicating he got it right without saying the words and breaking Stephanie's trust.

Paul hugged Linda tightly, "thank you, you've been so much help."

Linda hugged him back and said, "remember I never told you anything."

He smiled at her, "of course not, thanks Linda."

He rushed to the door opening it and nearly flattened Mandy who was on her way in with a cup of coffee in his hurry to get out the door.

Curious as to what was going on Many had to ask, "what was his problem?"

Linda just smiled and said, "let's just say I hope I've helped the course of true love to run a little smoother."


	6. Chapter 6

It was late afternoon and Stephanie had just come in from sunbathing by the pool because she was getting hassled by an occupant who had a friend over who was a big WWE fan and wanted to know where Paul was so she opted for the safety of the apartment to get away from it all. Putting the tape of Raw from last night into the DVD player she pressed play to watch it now as she had not watched at the time preferring to take a bath instead.

Meanwhile Paul was just landing at Miami airport to rent a car to drive to Boca to see Stephanie, he avoided all fans questions and autographs citing that he was late for an appointment so they wouldn't think he was too much of an ass and he got in his car and started driving.

Back in the apartment Paul was just coming out for his match and as soon as she saw him and saw the look on his face before he had his Game face up she wound on knowing she couldn't watch that match as it would kill her inside. Out of the blue the door buzzer rang so Stephanie cautiously got up and went to answer it, she picked up the intercom phone and said, "hello?"

Paul heard Stephanie's voice and knew he'd hit the jackpot, "Steph, it's me Paul, please let me in."

She froze, he was at her door yet no one except her Mom knew where she was. Suddenly it dawned on her that her Mom had ratted her out to him and told him where she was and she couldn't help but be harsh with him, "what do you want Paul?"

He said, "I want to talk to you, please let me up."

Stephanie sighed, "no, I want some space."

Slamming the phone down she immediately went back to the lounge and picked up her cell phone as she had a bone to pick with her Mom.

She sat back down on the couch and dialled the mansion's number when the answer phone picked up Stephanie hung up and dialled the Stamford office's number and asked to be put through to Mandy Linda's secretary, "hello Linda McMahon's secretary, how can I help you?"

"Hi Mandy it's Steph, can you put me through to my Mom please?"

"Hi Steph, I saw your gorgeous fiancé earlier, damn you're a lucky woman. I'll check with your Mom as she said she wasn't taking calls." After a brief pause she came back on the line, "okay putting you through."

"Hi Steph, are you settling in alright?"

"Everything was fine thanks, until a certain someone showed up, someone I told you not to tell where I am."

Linda frowned, "uh Steph what are you on about? I didn't tell anybody where you are. Paul came to see me this morning but I told him that I promised you I wouldn't say and he'd have to find out for himself or wait for you to get in contact so if he is there I don't know how he found out."

Stephanie sighed, "what am I going to do Mom? I don't think he is going to give up easily now he knows where I am but I don't think I can face him."

"Steph I think you need to sort things out with him, at least let him know where he stands as quite frankly you're killing him with things as they are."

"What do you mean Mom?"

Linda gave a slight chuckle, "Steph I know you don't want to hear this but that man absolutely adores you, he'll do anything for you and having you run off leaving him with nothing to go on is killing him inside, when I saw him earlier I could see it in his eyes."

Stephanie sighed, "Mom, I love him I really do but I don't know that I can go through with this."

"Steph talk to him, if things are going too fast I'm sure things can be slowed down or whatever to make you happy and comfortable just talk to him alright?"

"I guess that's my only option, thanks Mom I needed this chat"

"You're very welcome Steph; you know I'm always here for you when you need me. Take care of yourself and be honest with Paul okay?"

"I will on both counts, I'll talk to you later, bye."

"Bye Steph."

With that Stephanie put her cell phone on the table and walked over to the intercom to see if he was still there, "Paul are you there?"

Paul quickly got up from where he was sat on the ground, "yes I'm here Steph."

"Come on up then, I think we need to talk."

She pressed the door release button for him and Paul started on his way to the apartment.


	7. Chapter 7

When Paul reached the apartment Stephanie had put the door on the latch so when he knocked she just shouted 'come in' so he walked inside and shut the door behind him.

Once he was inside she started off polite, "do you want a drink or anything Paul?"

"No thanks, I'm fine."

She got up and went to look out of the window a minute to gather her thoughts when Paul interrupted them, "Steph why did you call me up here?"

Turning to look at him she was questioning her decision a little, "you wanted to talk so I thought I'd give you the chance, what do you want to talk about then?"

He sighed, "us, is there an us anymore?"

Looking back out of the window Stephanie sighed, "I need a drink, I'll be back in a minute."

She retreated to the kitchen to get some water leaving him sat there all alone.

While she was in the kitchen he took a look around the living room of the apartment, although they had been there before they'd spent more time in the bedroom and by the pool than in the living room so he took the chance to really look around. When he walked over to the mantlepiece he saw a line of pictures, there were a couple of Stephanie and Shane when they were younger and there was one of Linda and Vince when they got married and then further along there was one of Shane and Marissa on their Wedding day and a family shot of everyone, including Paul in and then finally the last picture was of Stephanie and Paul together, messing about at the mansion in Greenwich on an off day when they had been invited to dinner. Paul didn't even know that they'd taken that picture let alone had it framed.

Stephanie walked back in the room but Paul didn't see her he was too engrossed in the picture, "that's a nice picture isn't it? I didn't realise my parents had taken it."

He looked up to see her stood not far from him, "yeah it's beautiful. I never noticed these here before."

She smiled, "that would be because we hardly spent time in here, we spent most of our time in the bedroom."

Paul smiled back, "yeah I know. . . Steph is there an us anymore?"

She sighed softly, "honestly I don't know, don't get me wrong I want there to be but there are so many things going on right now it's hard to see the wood for the trees as they say."

He was relieved that she wanted there to be an us but he was still confused where things had gone wrong, "what was so wrong that you had to leave me in the middle of the night? Why couldn't you stay and we could talk it out? Are things moving too fast for you? If they are we can slow down to whatever speed you want."

Stephanie smiled in spite of herself as he was always so considerate towards her, too considerate sometimes, "Paul I just needed space, everything just got on top of me and I had to get away, I didn't plan it though it just happened."

"Steph do you regret us getting engaged?"

She was shocked that he even asked the question, that was the last thing she expected, "no, oh God no Paul, I don't regret the engagement for a minute, I love you."

"If you love me why didn't you want me knowing where you were?"

Stephanie felt like she was going round in circles so she decided to just let everything out, "Paul I love you with all of my heart, I love you more than I have ever loved anybody else in my life and it scares me. We'd been together over two years and then you proposed, I honestly couldn't have been happier then or now."

Paul started to interrupt 'then why . .' but she cut him off, "just let me finish okay?"

He nodded his head in an understanding of what she had said to allow her to continue.

"You make me really happy and I love you so much but everyone says how you are using me and deep down in my heart I know you're not but there is that and then there is all the people just slating you and me and our relationship and there is only so much a person can take. Joanie started it off at the beginning and I learned to just let that go over my head but when people think they know our relationship and how it works it's hard to just forget it and ignore it. I have tried but with the way I feel about you, the stuff from the guys and the stuff from the fans it all got too much for me and I decided to take a break from everything, that is why I came here."

A few minutes passed between them where neither of them spoke, Paul was trying to digest what Stephanie said and she was waiting for him to say something, anything would be good for her.

Eventually he spoke up, "so you do love me then?"

She nodded her head, "yes I do."

"And you do want there to be an us?"

Stephanie nodded again, "yes I do . . I think."

"So why don't you come back with me and we can sort things out together?"

She shook her head not ready for that, "Paul I came here to get away from everything, including you. I can't just leave again as nothing is clear in my head and I haven't decided anything."

Paul's head shot over from where he was looking at the wall to look at her face, "what is there for you to decide?"

Stephanie looked at the floor as a tear escaped her eye, "I need to decide whether I want to still go through with marrying you and also whether I want to be with you still."

Taking a breath he tried to remain calm and composed, "you . . uh . . you don't know whether you want to marry me or be with me anymore? I thought you loved me?"

More tears started falling from her eyes, "I do love you but everything is so hard I don't know whether I can still do it or not so I need some space. I'd really like you to leave now and I'd prefer it if you didn't call me or come and see me again until I've made my decision and I come and find you."

Paul had no other option but to plead with her, "Steph don't do this, I love you."

Stephanie wiped the tears from her face, "Paul don't make this any harder than it has to be, it will only be for a few weeks."

At that piece of information he exploded, "a few weeks?! That's all is it? I love you and you supposedly love me and you want me to leave you alone for a few weeks, fine, have it your way I'm out of here."

Storming out of the apartment and slamming the door behind him he ran down the stairs, as soon as he reached the pavement he sat down and just let the tears that he had been holding in flow.

Meanwhile back in the apartment Stephanie picked up the photograph of the two of them and stroked his face with her finger, "I love you Paul."

Sitting the picture back down on the mantlepiece she then walked back to the couch and collapsed on it in tears.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a couple of days since Paul had left and all Stephanie had thought about was him and how upset he had looked when he left and it didn't help that another person that lived in the apartments arrived back not long after Paul had left Stephanie and she said that she had seen him sat outside the building with tears running down his face.

Meanwhile Paul had gone home to New Hampshire for a few days and he was spending some time with his family before he headed out to the weekend house shows. He had told his parents what had happened and they had sympathised with him and told him to just leave her be as she seemed pretty mixed up and he had also spoken to his sister about it and she had said it sounded like pre Wedding jitters only multiplied by a thousand due to the situation that they were in and she also told him to leave her be so that is what he had decided to do, leave Stephanie alone and let her come to him when she was ready.

On Thursday Paul was going to be spending the day with his niece who was only 4 years old while his sister was at work and his nephew was in school and then he was going to spend Thursday evening with his nephew when his sister was home so they both got time alone with him. When Lynn dropped Neysa off Thursday morning she was really excited to see him and then she ran inside thinking Stephanie was going to be there also as she loved her a lot and Stephanie was normally home when Paul was so Neysa was running from room to room looking for Stephanie until she came back unsuccessful and looked at Paul, "Uncle Paul, where's Aunty Stephie?"

He sat down and pulled the little girl onto his lap, "Auntie Stephie's got to work Neysa, she would have loved to have been here today but she couldn't, she sends you her love though."

Neysa jumped off Paul's lap and started looking around, "where is it then? I can't find it"

Paul didn't have a clue what she meant, "where's what Neysa?"

"Aunty Stephie's love, you said she sent it to me."

Paul just roared with laughter while Neysa gave him the pouty face, "that's not funny Uncle Paul."

He composed himself, "I know sweetie, I'm sorry. Me saying that Stephanie sends her love is just a figure of speech, there is actually nothing for you other than for you to know that she loves you and is thinking of you."

"Ohhh I get you now, why didn't you just say that then?"

Paul just shook his head in disbelief at the way she was acting.

The rest of the day went well there were no more problems and no more questions about Stephanie so when Lynn came to pick Neysa up and drop Peter off everything was fine but just as Neysa was about to leave she said, "Uncle Paul there is a picture on the table for Aunty Stephy, make sure she gets it."

He laughed and did a mock salute, "yes ma'am."

Once his niece and sister were safely in the car he then went inside with Peter. As Paul got inside he found Peter looking at the drawing which was of Neysa, Stephanie and Paul together and in what writing she could manage it said 'I luv yoo Ante Steffe' and when Paul saw this he got choked up wondering how he would explain to her that Stephanie didn't want to be with him anymore but before he could get lost in his thoughts Peter interrupted them, "so Uncle Paul where's Aunty Stephanie? Not that I'm complaining at a guys only evening but I don't mind her being here also, she knows that right?"

Paul smiled at Peter, he was only 12 but he understood everything that was going on around him and it was hard to put anything past him, "Stephanie's working and she couldn't be here but she said she didn't mind me coming up to see you guys as long as I made sure to tell you all that she loved you and was thinking about you."

Peter was skeptical over what Paul had said, "I don't truly believe you as you've got a shifty look on your face but I will trust you as I don't think you'd lie to me."

Paul quickly changed the subject, "so what would you like for dinner then?"

Paul really enjoyed the day that he got to spend with his family, it really meant a lot to him and it showed him that even if he didn't have Stephanie he had his family around him that loved him.

Back down in Florida Stephanie was enjoying time soaking up the sun when she got a surprise visitor, "hello there Stephanie, how are you doing?"

She shot up from her sun lounger only to see Chris Irvine one of her closest friends stood there with his wife Jessica, "Chris how could you do that to me? You nearly gave me a heart attack." She smacked him lightly as payback for scaring her.

He playfully grabbed his chest where she hit him, "hey that hurt, is that any way to treat your friends? We're actually here because we had to go to Miami to visit a friend so we thought we'd drive out here to see if you were here."

Stephanie had no idea what they were doing here truthfully and whether Paul had sent them or not but she was polite all the same, "how did you know I'd be here? But lets talk about all of this upstairs shall we? Come on up."

All three of them got in the elevator and went upstairs to the apartment.

Once they were all settled Stephanie again asked how they knew she'd be there and Chris said, "I didn't, call it a gut instinct but when Kevin said on Monday that you'd gone away for a couple of days I thought of either New Hampshire or here and quite frankly as you didn't wait around for Paul I figured you'd come here. So truthfully what's going on with you?"

Chris was a really great friend and he knew when something was up and he also managed to keep his mouth shut on personal problems so she told them everything. Once she had finished Jessica who hadn't said much since she had arrived chimed in, "if you love him I can't see the problem with you being together."

Chris nodded, "I agree with Jess, you love him, he loves you and that is all that matters. There is only two people in the relationship, you and Paul, so don't worry about everybody else only worry about you two. I can honestly tell you though that you have a lot more support out there than you realise."

Stephanie couldn't help but smile, "you really think we have a lot of support?"

He nodded his head, "I **know** you do. You wouldn't believe the number of people that are happy for you and stick up for you, it's phenomenal. But honestly Steph you have to decide what you want in your heart and go for it. We should get going though as I've got house shows all weekend, take care of yourself."

Stephanie got up to show them out, "don't you dare tell Paul you've been here okay."

He nodded his head, "the same goes for you, you can't tell him I've been here either."

Stephanie laughed softly and nodded her head as they all exchanged hugs before Stephanie was left on her own again.

Paul was back on the road doing house shows but he was keeping himself to himself and leaving the guys alone, nobody knew what the problem was they all thought he was worried about the thought of being tied down but Paul knew the truth. Every time he would be sat in his locker room getting ready for his matches the drawing that Neysa had done would be there in front of him as he had packed it to somehow pass on to Stephanie. It was Sunday afternoon when he saw the picture he picked it up and then looked up at the ceiling and said, "Stephanie I love you, please come back to me, we can get through this."

It had been three days since Chris' visit and Stephanie had finally come to a decision about herself and Paul, all she had to do now was tell Paul what she had decided and hope he was okay with it all so she packed her bags and headed for the airport to go to Raw.


	9. Chapter 9

It was first thing Monday morning and Stephanie was the second person to arrive at the arena for Raw, only behind her Father so she went straight in and to his office to catch up on everything. Once she reached her Father's office she knocked on the door jumping slightly when he bellowed, 'come in' at her from behind the closed door. Stephanie slowly opened the door and walked in.

As soon as Vince heard the door open he looked up to see his daughter walk in and immediately got up and started to walk around his desk to give her a big hug, "Steph, you're here."

Stephanie quickly returned the hug, "yes Dad I am, I came in here now so you could catch me up before the meeting so I am up to speed on everything."

Vince sat back down, "sure, don't you want to catch up with Paul first? I assume he's come in early to see you."

She shook her head, "he doesn't know I'm here or going to be here, don't ask Dad as I'm not going to tell you. So are you going to catch me up or not?"

He nodded his head, "whatever you say Steph, now let's get down to it."

Vince pulled out some papers and started getting Stephanie up to speed on everything.

In the parking lot Paul was just arriving with Kevin Nash, "I wonder what Vince has in store for me tonight? I hope it's good."

Kevin laughed, "it's always good for you, you're going to be his son in law soon so he's got to keep his daughter on side."

Paul glared at Kevin, "jeez thanks for the help in trying to keep my mind off of her Kev. Let's get in before I kill you or you dig yourself a deeper hole."

Kevin just laughed and walked into the arena.

Once Vince had caught Stephanie up on everything that had gone down they went to the Conference Room to get ready for the first Production meeting of the day, as soon as the writers started arriving everybody was welcoming Stephanie back and anybody else that walked in was also.

Paul and Kevin arrived at the door of the Production meeting but before they went in Paul said, "I've got a funny feeling about going in there but I don't know why."

Kevin just looked at him like he'd lost his mind, "it is a Conference room, what harm could it do you?"

Paul just shook his head, "I didn't mean that . . . never mind."

Paul walked towards the door but as he walked through it he saw Stephanie and stopped which meant Kevin who wasn't expecting that crashed into the back of him, "Paul what the hell are you doing? Don't you know to give someone some warning before you stop suddenly like that?"

Paul just turned to him from where he had been staring at Stephanie talking to Brian Gerwertz, "huh?"

"Paul what is up with you?"

Paul shook his head, "she's here."

Kevin was just confused, "who is here?"

Rolling his eyes Paul shook his head, "Stephanie's here, which is either good or bad."

As Paul hadn't explained everything to Kevin he didn't understand why, "how? Isn't her being back good and good only?"

Paul shook his head, "she told me when I went to see her that she needed some time to decide whether she wanted to be with me or not and she'd come and find me when she had. She's obviously decided what she wants but it's just where that leaves me."

Suddenly Vince who had been watching them stand in the doorway for the last five minutes got sick of it and shouted at them, "Paul and Kevin either get your ass' in here now or get them out of here now, I want to start this meeting."

Paul and Kevin quickly turned around and walked into the room and sat down almost opposite Stephanie.

Throughout the meeting Stephanie could feel Paul's eyes on her, watching her and she knew that soon enough it was going to be time to tell him her decision but she wasn't sure that she was ready.

All too soon the meeting was over and everybody got up to leave but luckily for her so she could avoid Paul her Dad called her over while Paul and Kevin left.

When she reached her Dad he said, "so Steph how is it being back again?"

She smiled, "it's great, as much as I needed the time off it's even better to be back at work."

Vince laughed, "that's my girl. It seems a certain male wrestler missed you a lot too."

"What Kevin missed me? Aww that's cute."

Vince shook his head, "Stephanie Marie McMahon don't play games with me, you know full well I was talking about Paul. Now what happened between you two? I had reports over the weekend that Paul wasn't himself."

Stephanie shook her head, "Dad it's none of your business, it's between myself and Paul and only us."

He shrugged, "fine, whatever. Now go and get something to eat, you look like you could do with it."

Stephanie nodded her head and walked out of the room to follow her Father's instructions.

As soon as Paul and Kevin had left the meeting Kevin dragged Paul to his locker room. As soon as they were inside Kevin said, "right spill, tell me everything, leaving out no details on what went down between the two of you last week."

Paul shook his head, "no chance, it's between me and her and I'm not telling you, although I have a feeling I might need you later on of that's alright with you?"

Kevin just nodded his head, "you know I'm here for you man whatever."

Later on in the afternoon Paul and Chris were working out in the ring when Stephanie walked down to talk to Chris so Paul and Chris put their workout on hold for a bit so Chris could talk to Stephanie and then he needed to go and find Rob so they called the workout to an end. Paul figured seeing as he was there and Stephanie was there she'd talk to him but she didn't even acknowledge him she just walked off talking some more to Chris making it seem like she was busy so Paul decided to take a shower.

Stephanie had finished all the little errands she had to run and knew she couldn't put off talking to Paul any longer so she went to his locker room and knocked on the door as there was no answer she walked in and saw Kevin sat on the couch, "Kev why didn't you answer the door?"

Kevin looked up and pulled his headphones off, "what did you say?"

Stephanie laughed, "never mind, where's Paul at?"

He just shouted "PAUL, VISITOR."

Paul was busy so shouted back, "TWO MINUTES, I'M IN THE SHOWER."

Kevin knew they needed to talk in peace so he said, "take a seat, he won't be long. I need to get a drink so tell him where I'm gone please."

She nodded her head, "sure thing."

Kevin walked off and Stephanie took his place on the couch.

A couple of minutes later Paul walked out of the shower only to see Stephanie sat on the couch, "Stephanie, what can I do for you?"

She got up from her seat on the couch and said, "we need to talk."


	10. Chapter 10

Paul knew that 'we need to talk' was never good so he grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to change into something other than a towel. As soon as he was dressed he came out and said, "alright, let's talk although I have a feeling I know what you are going to say."

Stephanie didn't realize that he could see right through her, "you . . . uh know what I'm going to say."

He nodded his head, "yeah I've got a feeling I know what you want and if that is what will make you happy I'm okay with that."

She smiled, "you really mean that? We can go back to how things used to be?"

"I don't know that things will be exactly how they used to be as I think it'll take time for us to get back there but we can sure try if that's what you really want."

Stephanie nodded her head pleased that things were going so well and so easily, "I'd really really like that Paul."

Paul smiled as best as he could, "well I guess then Princess things are going to be back to normal around here now that we both know where we stand."

Stephanie nodded and went over and hugged him but then her cell phone rang so she pulled back and answered it, "hello Stephanie McMahon speaking . . . can't someone else deal with it? . . okay then I'll be there in a minute . . yeah bye." Stephanie turned back to Paul, "damn you stupid incompetent employees, I was hoping to stay a bit longer so we could sort some stuff out but I've got to go, I'll catch up with you later though alright?"

He nodded, "sure that's okay, no rush I'll be here all night."

She smiled softly at him, "bye." She then rushed out of the door to sort out the problem.

Once Stephanie had walked out of the room Paul sat down heavily on the couch and put his head in his hands, "friends, great."

Meanwhile outside the room Stephanie had done a little happy dance when Kevin walked along, "hey Steph, you happy there at all?"

She saw Kevin and gave him a massive hug, "I'm great, I talked to Paul and things are all sorted between us and it wasn't that hard for me either which was a relief. Anyway I've got to go as I've got work to do, I'll catch you later."

He laughed at her enthusiasm happy to see her smiling, "sure, take care of yourself so you don't knock anyone out."

Stephanie nodded and walked off.

Being the good friend that he was Kevin decided to see if Paul was alright so he walked in and saw him sat on the couch with his head in his hands, "hey man what's up? I thought you'd be dancing for joy like Stephanie was."

Paul looked up at him, "she's dancing for joy? How could she?"

Kevin didn't understand at all, "you're back together right?"

Paul shook his head, "no she dumped me."

"Ohhh that's what she meant by things being easier than she expected. I'm sorry man, there are plenty more fish in the sea."

Paul just glared at Kevin, "I don't want any other fish I want Stephanie. How could she be so happy though? We've been together over 2 years and she decides she doesn't want me and is happy about it? I can't believe it."

Kevin shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know man, you need to think about tonight though not about her, I know that's going to be hard to do but just try."

Paul nodded his head, "I'm not going to the meeting though in half an hour, I need some space from her."

"Alright man, I'll go and if Vince asks you're otherwise engaged."

Standing up Paul reached out and shook Kevin's hand, "thanks man."

Stephanie had just finished fixing the mess somebody else when Chris walked up, "hey girl, how are you?"

She twirled around and hugged Chris, "things are wonderful."

He laughed at her enthusiasm for life, "you've changed your tune, have you talked to Paul?"

She nodded, "yep and he was cool with everything."

"What exactly is this 'everything' you speak of?"

"'Everything' is us getting back together and me needing time out."

Chris smiled at her, "so you went back to him then?"

Stephanie was beaming, "absolutely, after what he said and then what you and Jess said I realised how stupid I was being about it all and how it's only between me and Paul not anybody else."

He couldn't help but hug Stephanie, "that's great, I'm really happy for you. Is Paul happy aswell?"

She shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure, he didn't actually seem that thrilled." Stephanie then looked at her watch, "damn, the Production meeting starts in five minutes I should get going."

"I'm coming too so I'll walk you there."

Stephanie nodded and they linked arms and started walking to the Conference room.

Once Stephanie had reached the Conference room she looked around for Paul but didn't see him so she sat down and then Kevin walked in alone she decided to find out from him where Paul was but when she went to get up and ask him her Father started the meeting so she couldn't.

As the meeting went on and on Stephanie kept looking for Paul and when by the end there was no sign of him as soon as the meeting was over Stephanie called out to Kevin so she could ask him, "Kevin, hang on will you please?"

Kevin just turned around and stopped and waited for Stephanie to make her way through the people to him.

Once she reached him she said, "where's Paul at? I thought he'd be here." He just looked at her with the most disgusted look she had ever seen on his face so she said, "what? What is wrong and why did he miss the meeting? He never misses the meetings."

Kevin looked at her unable to believe she could be so heartless, "you broke the guys heart and then you wonder why he misses the stupid meeting? What sort of a heartless bitch are you?"

Stephanie was taken aback, "what do you mean 'broke his heart'? We agreed that it was for the best."

"Best for you maybe, just because you can't handle a relationship with a guy in the business doesn't mean you can muck him around then dump him."

Stephanie sat down on the edge of the table before she fell down, "dumped him? Is that what he told you?" He nodded in confirmation so she continued, "damn, we've got our wires crossed."

Kevin was puzzled, "what do you mean 'you've got your wires crossed'?"

"I wasn't dumping him; I wanted to be back with him. Kev I love him more than anything in this world and I needed the time away to realise what exactly I had and now I know I don't want to lose it."

"If you don't want to lose it then I suggest that you go and talk to him again, this time make it clear to him that you want to be with him not that you want to split up with him."

Stephanie nodded her head, "Kev please don't say anything to him, I really want this to come from me not anybody else."

He nodded his head knowing it needed to come from her and not him, "you've got my word that I won't tell a soul."

"Thanks Kev."

Stephanie hugged him before attempting to go and find Paul to sort it all out.


	11. Chapter 11

Stephanie rushed from the Conference room in the hope of finding Paul before the show, first she searched catering and he wasn't there, then she tried the ring and he wasn't there either but before she could search anywhere else Michael Hayes came up to her, "Stephanie we need you to produce the segments with Jericho and then the one with Evolution tonight please, there has been a mix up in the scheduling and you're our only hope. Will you do that please?"

Stephanie nodded, "sure thing, it's only my first day back after a week off and I'm already getting thrown in at the deep end. Give me time and places for when they are being filmed and I'll do it."

"Steph that's great thank you. The Evolution one is being run through as we speak so you need to go straight to dressing room 6 and it is being filmed as soon as it has been run through and the Jericho promo is an interview with Terri which we want to go out live during the show but if you can run through it with them as soon as you've done Evolution's promo that would be helpful."

Quickly writing down all of the information she nodded her head, "I think I've got all of that, I'll see you later."

Stephanie quickly left for dressing room 6 in the hope of talking to Paul also.

Paul was running through his lines with Ric and Randy when there was a knock at the door, "come in."

Stephanie walked in and immediately got down to business, "I understand you guys are running through your promo to be filmed straight away, can I take a quick look at the script a moment and then we'll run through it if that's okay with you guys?"

All three members of Evolution looked at each other before Randy stepped forward with a script, "here's the script for you to look at."

She nodded her head in acknowledgement, "thank you."

Once they had run through the promo they filmed it and as it only took one take Stephanie decided to see if she could talk to Paul before she had to run through the other promo with Jericho, "Paul, can I have a minute please?"

Paul turned to Ric and said, "hang on." He then turned back to Stephanie but before he could say anything there was a knock on the door and in walked Jericho, "Steph I need a favour please, can we go through the promo now as there is a problem with a couple of the spots in my match and I need to go down to the ring to work them out?"

Stephanie sighed softly but nodded her head, "sure Chris I'll be there in a minute if you go and get Terri for me."

Chris nodded his head and left to get Terri.

Once Chris had left Stephanie turned back to Paul, "Paul I really need to talk to you soon."

He just shrugged, "well I'm really busy now with the show so maybe we can talk again sometime . . . like say next week."

She shook her head in annoyance as he walked off and she went back to work.

For the rest of the evening Stephanie was busy working but when she had a spare minute she'd try and talk to Paul but he kept brushing her off saying he was busy or he was getting ready for his match, anything so he didn't have to talk to her. By the end of the show Stephanie was frustrated that he kept brushing her off and making excuses but before she could confront him she was called to clear up a problem that they were having so she couldn't.

Paul was in the shower after his match when Kevin came in, "hey man, how are you doing now? Has Steph talked to you again?"

Paul stuck his head out of the shower, "I'm alright I just wish Stephanie would let me get on with things and not be in such a rush to talk to me, she has been trying all evening to talk to me and I keep brushing her off as I need time to get used to this."

He then stuck his head back in the shower to finish and get out of there.

Kevin waited outside for him to finish so he could talk some sense into him. Once Paul was out of the shower and wrapping a towel round his waist Kevin said, "maybe she has something good to say, don't you at least owe her the opportunity to talk to you?"

Paul laughed dryly, "**I** owe her the chance to talk? That's rich when she refused to talk to me for a week and then she turns back up again and I'm expected to be all sweetness and light with her when she dumps me and talk to her when she sees fit."

Kevin shook his head, "fine, whatever."

Paul was mad at Kevin as he thought he was on his side so he turned his back on him and got dressed then went to leave but as he reached the doors Ric and Randy wanted a word so he stopped to talk to them.

Stephanie was rushing to see if she could catch Paul before he left as the problem had taken her a lot longer than she expected so she ran to the locker room only to be told he'd left so ran to the doors to see him talking to Ric and Randy, "Paul, I need to talk to you."

Hearing Stephanie's voice Paul turned around and said, "can't you see I'm talking to these two? I'll talk to you next week."

Ric and Randy were both taken aback as they thought they were living together and Paul was going to Smackdown all of the time. Ric felt like they were going to be in the middle of a domestic so said, "it's alright Paul, it can wait."

Paul shook his head and said, "we were talking first and Stephanie will just have to learn some manners and either wait for us to finish or she'll have to talk to me next week."

She was sick of him brushing her off so she grabbed either side of his face and leant up and kissed him on the lips with a lot of passion.

As soon as she pulled away Paul's mouth dropped to the floor, "uhh . . . um . . . what was that for?"

She smiled, "well it would appear we got our wires crossed earlier when you thought I was dumping you, I thought we had got back together, Kevin pointed it out to me after the meeting and I have been trying to talk to you ever since and you would have none of it so I did the only thing I knew to get you to understand, I kissed you."

He smiled, "you don't want to dump me?"

Stephanie shook her head, "I love you and if you'll have me I want things to go back to the way they were."

He nodded his head, "I'd love that. You won't go running off on me again will you?"

She laughed but was eager to reassure him, "nope, this time you're stuck with me for good. The time apart and a conversation with somebody who wishes to remain nameless made me realize that it is between me and you and that is all that matters not what anybody else thinks."

Paul smiled and nodded, "that's true, that person is very wise. So is the wedding back on then or are we going back to the beginning again?"

Stephanie laughed at his question as it was silly to her, "this person wise, never, but yes the wedding is back on if you want it. I love you Paul."

"I love you too Steph."

Paul leant down and captured her lips in a searing passionate kiss. Life couldn't get any better than it was right now, he had his fiancee back and the wedding was back on.


End file.
